Sears Hardware and Appliance Athlete of the Week: Ava Porlier

One of Downers Grove South's most experienced soccer players, Ava Porlier helped lead the Mustangs to a win in their season debut and was named Sears Hardware and Appliance Athlete of the Week.

Ava Porlier

Junior

Downers Grove South

Girls soccer

––

Why Porlier was selected:

Porlier provided an assist as the Mustangs defeated Oswego East in the season opener on Saturday.

––

Though a junior, Ava Porlier is one of the most experienced players on Downers Grove South’s varsity girls soccer team. A starter last season, Porlier is once again a key player for the Mustangs and is a veteran leader for a squad that has a handful of players who are new to the varsity level. Porlier, the Sears Hardware and Appliance Athlete of the Week, spoke with Suburban Life sports editor Jason Rossi about her role on the team and the 4-1 victory over Oswego East in the first game of the season.

How has the season been going so far?

We beat Oswego East 4-1, so the season started off pretty strong. This year it’s kind of a rebuilding process because we have some young girls, so we’re trying to find out who plays where and everything.

What went well for the team in the win against Oswego East?

We started off strong and were really in control. We had the rushes and we were able to do what we wanted. In the second half, we started to lose our composure, and that’s what we need to figure out if we want to play a full game and not have just spurts of good play.

With so many games and so much practice time, what do you and your teammates do to unwind?

We do a lot of team bonding stuff. We just had a team scavenger hunt as a team-building thing. We do things for the whole team. Before games we listen to music in our locker room. We do stuff like that so everyone on our team can get to know each other.